Day 1 We Leave DC Behind

Cast of travelers:

S (Student at Art Institute in Chicago)

K (40ish, mother of S)

J (70ish, mother of K and grandmother of S)

Me! D (70ish neighbor of K)

Via email, we nailed down the days we could all travel. We then went to K’s and ordered our tickets on her computer. J has points for Hilton so we were able to get a good price for an Embassy Suites on N. Columbus Dr. We got an inexpensive United Airlines flight.

✄ Travel alert! Be sure to check the small print on this Basic Economy ticket. You can bring aboard ONLY ONE carryon and it MUST fit under the seat in front of you. It costs $25 to check a bag weighing less than 50 pounds. If you are a scofflaw, you have to check your bag at the gate and could get charged another $25.

Because she lives closest to Reagan Airport in D.C., we spent the night with J. Her DH drove us to Reagan. Traffic was heavy at 7:40 a.m. but we got to the airport in plenty of time.

Nice plane was a new airbus. OK flight. Long walk to the luggage pick up and it was not well marked. We took a cab...about $37 before the tip. It took about an hour to get into the city at around 2 p.m.

First view of Chicago from the Cab!